Gas Prices, Stocks Down Amid Bleak Economic Prospects

The average price of a gallon of regular gas is $3.44, down nearly 10 cents from a week ago, according to the Department of Energy. This price is also down nearly 14 cents from a year ago.

The most expensive gas in the country is on the West Coast, where the average price for a gallon of regular is $3.82, down 14 cents from a week ago.

The least expensive gas is on the Gulf Coast, with the average price for a gallon of regular at $3.20, down 7 cents from a week ago.

We will likely see even lower gas prices in coming weeks as the price of oil continues to fall. Oil closed at $79.21 a barrel in New York trading today, down 55 cents for the day. Oil is trading at levels last seen in the fall of 2011.

STOCKS DOWN TOO

As fears about Europe persist, U.S. stock markets followed a selloff in Europe with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending the day at 12,502.66, down 138.12 points, or 1.09 percent.

There was more troubling news out of Europe today - Greece's new finance minister had to step down because of an illness, Cyprus asked for a bailout, Spain's banking crisis remains murky and expectations are low that European leaders will have any grand plan to deal with all of this.